“Mary?”
In truth, Summer was not the type to ask such questions of others.
She didn’t expect much of an answer either. It was akin to throwing out random words to an AI speaker.
To Summer, Mary was just that—an entity of a novel, nothing more than text.
Though Mary was a somewhat peculiar existence, being a character in a story meant that come the next day, she would be completely forgotten, and the same events would repeat, leaving no room for understanding or consideration of emotions.
“I know.”
However, at Mary’s unexpected response, Summer’s eyes widened.
“Really? What is it?”
With a frighteningly expressionless face, Mary began to speak as she adorned Summer’s hair with a decoration.
“It’s enough for life to be painful enough that the pain of death feels trivial.”
“…….”
“And, my lady. Even if a death without pain exists, there is no death without fear.”
Mary’s voice was steady, devoid of highs and lows.
It was as if someone were responding to the question of whether they had eaten, saying they had fried eggs for breakfast that morning.
Yet, it was more effective than any worry, comfort, or persuasion.
“That’s no help at all.”
The problem was that it was effective enough to send a chill down her spine.
“All done, my lady. Do you like it?”
“Thank you, Mary.”
As Summer expressed her gratitude, Mary silently bowed and left the room.
Feeling a bit awkward as she held onto the hem of her dress, she stepped out in front of the mansion, where a guard opened the gate for her.
Summer stared blankly at the shadow of the door on the floor before taking a step forward.
The blue shoes precisely stepped outside the line. She heard the heavy sound of the door closing behind her.
In that moment, Summer’s eyes sparkled with excitement.
Today was her first outing since possessing this body. It would be a lie to say she wasn’t thrilled.
“I need to check. With my own two eyes.”
Summer confidently placed her hands on her waist. At the same time, a carriage came to a stop, kicking up a cloud of dust.
“Whoa—”
“Cough!”
As Summer coughed and waved her hand to disperse the dust, the coachman, looking pale, hurriedly prostrated himself in front of her.
“Oh dear, please forgive me just this once! I thought you would be inside and made a mistake….”
“It doesn’t seem like our family’s carriage. Who are you?”
“Excuse me? This is the carriage you called for. Didn’t you send a maid to pay the fare?”
The coachman stared at Summer as if she were a very strange person.
Not seeing his expression, Summer pouted her lips, lost in thought, before breaking into a bright smile as if she understood.
“I did call for it! I’ll take it!”
It seemed that Mary was quite capable.
Considering she had the foresight to call the carriage in advance. With a cheerful demeanor, Summer got into the carriage but felt something was off.
“…….”
“Where shall I take you?”
“Ah. Please take me to the Dudley Count’s townhouse.”
“Excuse me? Yes, yes.”
The coachman glanced at Summer, then firmly grasped the reins.
What a truly strange lady she was. To speak so respectfully to a lowly coachman. Moreover, it seemed she had no idea what she was doing.
As the carriage jolted and began to move, Summer felt a strange sense of liberation. She cracked the small window open, and a refreshing breeze rushed in.
Riding in the carriage as she left the mansion, Summer marveled at the excellent ride quality.
“It seems the author thought of the carriage as a car.”
Well, it didn’t look like a work that considered such details.
Throughout the ride to the Dudley Count’s, Summer pondered deeply about the world.
Based on the content of the story, Summer’s role was that of a beloved, naive noble lady. Therefore, no past narrative was necessary. She just had to repeat the same day.
This time, Summer felt deeply how dreadful it was to be possessed by an extra.
Dramatic and vibrant episodes were not given to her. She merely repeated what seemed like the same day endlessly.
Summer, who broke that preset and moved freely, was nothing more than a foreign object.
A small, annoying error that broke the rules of this world.
But the protagonist might be different.
“If it’s Julian Dudley.”
Summer smiled brightly, her lips curling up. She liked Julian Dudley. He was her favorite character in this novel.
A person who could remain clear even when of lowly status.
Someone who wouldn’t lose their sparkle no matter how much they rolled in the mud.
Julian Dudley was bright, cheerful, and optimistic.
He was, quite literally, healthy. There was not a single sickly part of him, despite her environment being nothing like that.
Anyone who encountered her, sparkling and cheerful, would surely fall in love. Summer was convinced.
For someone like Julian Dudley, there must be some special privilege reserved for the protagonist.
Among those, she could only hope for the ability to communicate with the poor possessor who fell into a monarchy right after passing the exam.
“……the ability to communicate.”
Lost in thought while gazing out the window, Summer suddenly stiffened as she realized the reason for the strange feeling from earlier.
“Excuse me.”
Summer called out to the coachman. He slightly turned his head at her call.
“Yes, did you call?”
“Can you hear my voice?”
“Yes, I can hear you very well.”
The coachman was responding precisely to Summer’s words. A noisy sound reached Summer’s ears, which had gone stiff.
Summer turned her head slightly to look out the window. Had they already arrived at the central square? People were bustling about.
The central square was lively and crowded. And it felt hazy. It was a strange sensation. It was clearly a world right in front of her, yet it felt vague.
The scenery that the author didn’t pay attention to was this hazy.
“If there’s anything uncomfortable, please let me know at any time.”
At the coachman’s voice, Summer finally regained her senses and shook her head.
“Thank you. It’s very comfortable.”
“Yes, yes… Oh dear, my lady?”
The coachman, who had been responding flatly, glanced at Summer.
Then, with a startled expression, he took out a handkerchief from his jacket and handed it inside the carriage.
“Why would you be crying on such a sunny day?”
“Thank you, thank you…”
Summer accepted the handkerchief with trembling hands. It was only then that she realized she was crying. Out of joy. She was crying tears of happiness.
“Oh dear! My lady, please lower your voice. Every time you do that, I get so frightened.”
The coachman was flustered, unsure of what to do, and soon focused solely on driving, fearing he might overstep his bounds with a noble.
Summer buried her face in the handkerchief and burst into tears.
She missed it.
The longing she had forgotten surged back.
People.
She missed people.
In this world that returned to its predetermined course, Summer felt isolated and didn’t know what to do.
Every day, when she opened her eyes, only the set situations and lines existed. The characters would recite them and exit once their roles were done.
It was truly dreadful and bizarre.
The moment she heard the coachman’s response, Summer felt a sense of liberation. This was a free place where the author hadn’t meticulously set parameters.
With that freedom came a lack of constraints. She felt she understood the parameters of this place.
Bustle, liveliness. As long as those two were maintained, anything was permissible.
The bustling market and the natural movements of people. As Summer took in the scene outside the open window, tears fell from her eyes.
At this moment, watching the lively people moving in the carriage was so delightful.
As a result, the thought of returning to the Dudley Count’s mansion became even more dreadfully unappealing.
* * *
“What’s this? A black-haired girl?”
Upon returning to the Dudley Count’s mansion, Fay lightly stepped on the carpet and asked. Naturally, the servants did not recognize Fay herself.
“Ugh. Why do humans have ears? They don’t even listen.”
Fay grumbled as she plopped down on Summer’s bed. One of the maids straightened her back at that.
Fay’s gaze naturally fell on that maid. Unlike the other maids, this one looked directly at Fay.
“You. How do you see me?”
“What you can see, I can see as well.”
“Your name.”
“Mary.”
Mary answered in a flat voice. Then she brought a rag and began to wipe the window frame.
Unlike the other maids, she wasn’t very diligent. Fay quietly observed Mary and then scrunched her face in displeasure.
“What’s this black-haired girl doing?”
* * *
Finally, the carriage came to a stop.
Summer opened the window and poked her head out. A massive mansion came into view. It was evident that someone had taken care to describe it.
“Thank you.”
As Summer got out, the carriage departed. She thought that on her way back, she would have to go to the central square to catch a hired carriage, and she stood firmly at the gate.
Then she grasped the gate firmly and shook it.
“I want to meet Lady Dudley!”
At the sudden request, the soldiers guarding the gate looked at her in disbelief.
“What’s this? A crazy woman at the gate….”
It was too hard to ignore her, thinking she was mad, given how noble Summer looked.
Even in her simple attire, the sparkling jeweled earrings and the slender, elegant necklace caught the guards’ eyes.
The flustered sentries whispered among themselves, and one of them slipped inside the mansion first. When that sentry returned, he was not alone.
“Julian Dudley!”